Using melted butter when making shortbread
I almost always forget to take the butter out to soften, and inevitably end up over microwaving it and then putting it back in the fridge for 5 min.
Today it occurred to me: why not mix in the sugar and then put it back? mixing is easier and I still am adding the flour to a solid so it doesn't develop as much gluten.
What do you think? is there any harm in adding the sugar to melted butt and then cooling before flour?
Best Answer
If your recipe calls for the creaming method, then what you are doing, both with or without sugar, is harmful.
Creaming the butter means to mix softened butter with crystal sugar, using a paddle mixer attachment or vigorously stirring with a spatula (warning, sore arms!). The sugar crystals beat tiny air bubbles into the butter, which make the shortbread rise later during backing. Neither cold butter nor melted butter work here. If you melt the butter first, your result will still be a shortbread, but will rise less and have a denser, heavier texture. Melting the butter first, then cooling it back and adding it is also bad; melting the butter breaks the emulsion and melted butter (which is actually an uneven mixture of butterfat and unstrained milk solids) behaves completely differently than "normal" butter.
If your recipe already prescribes the muffin method, there is no need to mix the sugar with the butter, or to cool the melted butter at all. You mix the sugar with the dry ingredients, and add the butter together with the wet ingredients.
Pictures about "Using melted butter when making shortbread"
Can I use melted butter in shortbread cookies?
We use melted butter for our shortbread cookies and go for a long bake time at a low temperature. By baking low and slow, the cookies become addictively delicious. These cookies make ingredients that we already adore, like butter and sugar, absolutely shine.What happens if you melt butter for shortbread?
Typically shortbread should be cooked at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to not getting too brown, cooking shortbread at a low temperature will also help the starch set as the butter melts. And if that butter melts too quickly, the cookies will melt too, resulting in misshapen cookies.What is the secret to making good shortbread?
No one knows how to make the absolute best shortbread quite like the Scottish. They originated this treat centuries ago (it was a favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots). But what is the secret to getting that signature texture and flavor? Quite simply: You let the dough dry out.Should you use cold butter for shortbread?
Start with butter that's refrigerator-cold to prevent the dough from warming up too fast, which would make it greasy and difficult to roll. If the dough does get soft or sticky as you're rolling or cutting it, just put it in the refrigerator for 10 or 15 minutes to chill the butter.Butter Almond Shortbread || Easy \u0026 fool-proof with melted butter|| Better than plain shortbread
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Images: Mi Butter SA, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska